Jon Baker Article

Read all about Jon on VeloNews

A Diddle Birthday

Leah's 10th Birthday
See Axel eating with a fork and chewing with his two big front teeth at the birthday party.The lovely Belgian birthday cake, a confection of thin layers of cake stuffed with cream and topped with raspberries.A new coatMost all the presents were diddle presents. That is a cartoon mouse that is popular with the school kids here in Brugge.The party wound up in the crazy zone with children dancing on the table as recorded by Cyndi outside through the window.

Another update from Valerie

From Valerie about Ben:

Ben came down with a 102 fever on Friday and we went straight
to the ER. He had some blood taken and it came back fine, and we
went home. Sat he would not take is oral meds, just would spit
them back up, and I found a few little spots on him. Then Sat
afternoon, after I called you, he threw up, so thank God it was
indeed something else, the flu. That is over now, and I figured
out that I can give him his meds while he is sleeping, and that is
working well. so everything is ok now.
I also have now found out that Ben is allergic to bandaids. He gets
a red rash, some a little raised in the exact mark of the bandaid.
Trying out a few different brands now to see if it makes a difference
since his face and hand still need to be covered from surgery. Right
now I have his hand wrapped in gauze, but I can't exactly do that to
his cheek.

Under 16

This is for you Richard:

Het is ten strengste verboten de toestellen te bedienen onder de 16 jaare.

From the laundromat: It is very strongly forbidden for those under the age of 16 to use these machines.

I spend my time waiting for the wash reading "Dag" (today or hello), a movie magazine in Dutch. I learned that Tom Boonen has a cartoon strip about him and his family and that the word for cyclocross in Dutch is veldrijden pronounced felt ray dern. Plus a lot of the usual about movie stars.

After the wash we went to a very nice tearoom for a cappuccino and waffle until the maids were done cleaning the house.See on the trays all you get for the cappuccino, a dish with a small muffin, a cookie and a chocolate and a dish with different types of sugar cubes. My cappuccino was a Belgian style with chocolate bits and a raft of heavy slagroom (whipped cream). The waffle was infinitely better than the ones on the street corners. We had powdered sugar and butter. Drool Drool.

Monday Monday

Leah is off to school. Jon and Cyndi are off on a bike ride. The baby is napping and Wm and I are laptopping. I have planned a Belgian menu for dinner and will go shopping later. We have a lot of carrots on hand so I thought of Courgette and Carrot Soup. Then a meat dish. The butcher shop has turkey parts (kalkoen) so I thought I might try roasting some as I found a Belgian recipe.
No midweek bike race this week. Birthday is tomorrow so we need to go by the pastry shop and reserve the one Leah wants. It is a very pretty confection of cookie and pudding of some sort with a bow tied around it and berries dusted with powdered sugar on top. Will have to get ice cream also. The big gift is the Paris trip scheduled for the 12th with just Cyndi and Leah. The date change was because the train travel is much much more reasonable if booked 2 weeks ahead. I'm not going as the baby likes female companionship as well as DaDa. For the bike races next weekend Cyndi and I are going to split the soigneur duties. I will go to the race and work on Saturday and she will stay home and she will work on Sunday and I will stay home. That way the kids can spend the weekend going to the park and playing etc. I am sure I can learn the soigneur duties fine.

A Day at the Races

Today we all piled in the van and went to the Superprestige at Hamme-Zogge. Jon's knee was sore from a fall yesterday, but he did pretty well. He avoided being lapped by Sven Nys who was breathing down his neck on the last lap. But his time should have been at least a minute better as the officials had taken down the barriers and let a huge crowd on to the course that he had to fight his way through to get to the finish line. Jon said that is just the way. That they do not care much about those who come in after the leaders. We watched the race from a school playground. So the kids had various pieces of equipment to play on in between watching daddy race by. Axel enjoyed waffles at the race.We did not spend much time in the beer tent where this picture was taken. The tables and chairs were nice, but it was not a good place to watch the race and the oompa music was excruciatingly loud. They have big screen TV's scattered around the venue, so that not all the fans are clustered at the edges of the course. The only trouble is they usually only show the leaders on the TV's. It was best to stand at the edge and yell for Jon. He said he heard us and appreciated it.

Crowds of Brits

On Saturday the British come to Belgium to be tourists and shop. The Saturday market was so packed Cyndi felt claustrophobic with the buggy. So the kids went for a ride on a kiddee roller coaster.After lunch and nap we fought the crowds to get to the playground on the other side of the Gros Markt. This playground has a fail safe method for keeping little kids off the high slides. You have to go up a climbing wall to get up to the highest areas and no stairs even to the lower areas.

Welkom op het speelplein
Welcome to the play place

The boys were off racing. Jon did better today as he got a higher call-up and higher final placement despite a tumble or two. He says this is all training as he has not yet fully gotten his cross legs yet. You can see him tall in green near the front at the right center with his helmet still unbuckled, number 31 if you go to the next picture and article on cycling news. He was not ready at the start, which was why he lost time in the first few laps.

Carnival and more

Bill and I went to a small carnival with Leija (Leah in Flemish) today in bicycle square (T'Zant Square). The best thing was the bumper cars. She had a great time and is a very aggressive driver. I forgot my camera. Too bad.
The baby and Cyndi went to play in the small local park and he ate a ladybug.
All worked together on a great dinner. Jon made pasta with a reduction sauce. Cyndi made braised brussels sprouts with bacon and garlic. I made mushrooms stuffed with spiced ground turkey sausage from the butcher and Bill had bought the bread.
When the baby sat down he attacked the food with joyful noises and Leah ate three servings of brussels sprouts.
A typical misty moisty Brugge day.

The Boo is home!

Latest from Valerie:

We are back home with Ben!!! :-) He was released at 2:pm this
afternoon, after his second set of IV meds for the day. We spent
four days at the hospital. He has mostly played outside all
afternoon, and is his happy playful self.

On Tuesday at the hospital, his nurse said we could take him outside,
so we did. Then a little bit later another nurse said they got a
call from Infection Control and Ben could not leave his ward. We
spent about 1/2 of the time at the hospital wandering the ward with
Ben, stopping to watch and talk to everyone, and being careful as
instructed not to have him touch anything.

The blood test from the hospital and the culture test from CareNow
both came back negative. He was already on antibiotics for two days
before the blood test, and I was told by a nurse that the culture
test is wrong sometimes. They assumed it was Invasive MRSA at the
hospital, and it acted as such with the need to increase the doses
and add additional antibiotics to fight as it was spreading in the
bloodstream. I checked online last night and ran into some scary
numbers the CDC just released two weeks ago; the death rate for
hospitalized cases of Invasive MRSA is 1/5. So scary! We are so
happy our little Boo is Okay!!!!!!

More Ben

Update from Valerie:

Yesterday afternoon the swelling on Ben's face started
to come down. The doctor came by this morning and
noticed as well. He said if the swelling continues to
come down when he checks on him tomorrow, then Ben can
go home tomorrow! :-)

Ben eating a turkey croissant.

News from Valerie and Richard

Ben does not look too happy.From Valerie:

Ben had surgery on his face and hand yesterday, and it
went well per the surgeon.  He said he drained some
pus and clear fluid.

Ben's right side of his face continued to swell
through the night.  His right eye is almost swollen shut.

The doctor came by this morning and noticed the face
swelling is still increasing, and said he could not go
home until the swelling goes down.  He ordered an
increase of the IV antibiotic he is currently getting
as well as adding an additional antibiotic.

The hospital should have the blood tests back tomorrow
so we know for sure what we are dealing with.

I called CareNow this morning as they did a swab test
on his hand on Saturday and are suppose to have the
lab results back today, they don't have them yet, but
will call my cell when they get them.  They just
called back while I was typing this email, and the
preliminary results came back negative - no growth -
no bacteria in the hand.  He said the final results
normally don't change but can.  Not sure what to think
about this due to his continued swelling.

Ben doesn't act like he is hurting at all.  He is just
playing and running around like usual, as well as
pushing the nurse call button whenever we turn our
heads, probably like 30 times since we have been here.
They don't seem to mind too bad.

Last night they had to take blood from him twice.  He
didn't like it at all.  Now if anyone comes in the
room, the nurse, doctor, the person delivering food,
he cries.  He thinks they will hurt him.   :(

More when we hear more.

Our Ben

As of 430PM Texas 1030PM Belgium, Ben was out of surgery and doing fine per Richard. He said more information to come

Ben

Very sad news. Ben is in the hospital with an antibiotic resistant staph. It is apparently in his hand and cheek as a cellulitis that is not responding to therapy yet. He will have surgery soon to debride and drain the areas especially on his cheek as they are fearful of spread into the brain. He is on his second bag of antibiotics. Richard has gone home to get Val's laptop and some items for her as she will be staying with him. We all want to be with her. But here we are far away. Ben is a good brave boy, but he is not even two yet.

Brugge closes on Sunday

We went out to the flea market and discovered that what was being fleaed was not to our taste. We also discovered that 90% of Brugge is closed on Sunday. Don't run out of groceries. Cyndi is on a roll with cooking and made a lovely potato leek soup using a bit of Piet's Kippen Bouillon (see her blog). Bill and Jon won't be back from Tabor until late this evening. So the house is quiet. All are reading or napping.

Saturday Market

I caught the Saturday market today at what I call Bicycle Square not far from the house. Cyndi and the kiddos had gone out on their errands. I wanted to try a new direction and was looking for an optical shop further from tourist central. I got my newer glasses, which were damaged in the fall, repaired for free in a nice shop and then noticed that the Square was filled with stands selling everything. I bought another scarf and a purse. I am trying to upgrade to semi-stylish with my new coat. I found a list of the various Market locations and days so we will not miss anymore.

Wednesday (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) on Market square (food)
Saturday (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) on 't Zand square and on Beursplein (food and non food)
Sunday (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) on Ten Briele (food and non food)
Fish market: Tuesday through Saturday, every morning.
Flea market along Dijver and at Fish market: Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. (15th March-15th November).

It was great watching the cyclocross race on TV so clear. Some of the post race commentary was even in English. Great views of Jon at the start. He is progressing well and was mentioned in the race stories in both VeloNews and CyclingNews.

Tabor

Jon and Bill got up at about 5AM to make a flight to Tabor in the Czech Republic for a World Cup race. All racers at World Cup races have to have their entries processed through the USA Cycling association. And of course they have a real cretin handling that task for the riders--a new real cretin. First of all the riders have to submit forms to USA Cycling for each World Cup race long in advance. Then USA Cycling has to submit the names to UCI (the international organization) by a certain date. First the cretin was late with the names. Then she submitted all the same names as were entered at the first World Cup in Kalmthout even though only Jonathan Page and Jonathan Baker had submitted to go to Tabor. The UCI authorities threatened huge fines even against the riders. Then the cretin submitted Jonathan Page and Jeremy Powers (who is racing in Louisville KY this weekend, per his blog). Now there are no Americans on the Entrants List even though Jon has an email from UCI that says he is entered and we know Jonathan Page is planning to race. Such a much. I think USA Cycling needs to rehire and give no second chances. I just hope it works out and Jon races as much money has been spent to get him there.

News about Ben

I just got an email from Valerie with news about Ben. I'll just post it here.

Ben started Preschool last week at the First United Methodist Church
of Allen. They offer a excellent program, and came recommended by a
friend as well as an online preschool review. I was lucky to get Ben
in, as the day before I called, one of the toddlers had moved and
there was an opening for Ben! He goes just one day a week, which is
just perfect for me right now. His class is Thursdays from 9-2 during
the school year. He is in a special class for toddlers who are 18-23
months from Sept.

I plan on doing no-stop cold calling for work while he is there. I
was doing this when they called about 12:30 last Thursday to inform
me that one of his eyes was swollen almost shut and his face was
covered in hives, I took him to the doc, and she said it was allergy
related, but we are unsure of the exact cause this time. I really
needed not to give him an antihistamine due to allergy testing
scheduled for today. Well the hives went away within an hour and the
puffy eye was back to normal the next day. (he has never had the
puffy eye thing before) The doc also diagnosed him eczema, I got some
hydro cortisone cream and it really helped a lot.

So today we went to the allergist and got poor little Boo all
scratched up on his back with multiple potential allergens. Poor
little guy is allergic to a lot. He has been diagnosed with severe
allergy to peanuts and all nuts, and was given a prescription for a
few EpiPen Jr.'s for emergencies. He rated as Grade 4+++ for peanuts
on a scale from 0-4. Items rated as Grade 2, 3, or 4 (with 4 being
the highest) generally indicate significant clinical sensitivity
(positive evidence of allergy). With Foods, he also rated Grade 4
for Milk and Soybeans; Grade 3 for Egg and Fish Mix; Grade 2 for Nut
Mix and Shellfish Mix. He also rated Grade 3+ for Oak; and Grade 2
for Cedar Mountain and Grass Mix. He rated well for Tree Mix, Weed
Mix, Mold Mix, and Cat with a Grade 1; as well as with Wheat, Rice,
Dog, Dust mite, and Cockroach with a Grade 0; which shows no evidence
of allergy for these items. Poor little Boo, you should have seen
his back. (Richard took a photo if you really want to see) He also
needs to have a more comprehensive blood test done in one month.

Other then that, Ben is doing great! He loves to count everything.
He counts to two ALL the time, and sometimes to three. He loves to
swing on the big kids swings now, and go down the real big slides all
by himself!

News in Brugge

People had asked us if Leah was going to go to school here and it got to sound like a good idea. Cyndi found information on what Belgium schools were like and we did a search in the golden pages and found a primary (lagere) school just around the corner. We went to visit and fell in love with the opportunity. She will have a special teacher to teach her Flemish (aka Dutch) and will begin in a small regular class of 10 students. The school is international with students from all over the world, but she will be the only American in the Primary grades. She will have gymnastics lessons, swimming lessons and, in January, ice skating. They have school parties and a special school Christmas party with St Nicholas and Swartze Pieter visiting. The school is called Basisschool Sint-Jozefsinstituut. It is a free Catholic School with students ranging from kindergarten through high school on Zilverstraat just 0.2 km from the house. Leah is very excited about going to school and has already been introduced to the other students who look very friendly. In keeping with the general subtlety we had walked nearby and never knew the school was there. I am including some pictures from the school's web site at http://www.basisschoolsintjozef.be/

Some older boys chalking a greeting at the closed door of the school prior to opening. The school is 3 stories like most buildings.

A student walking to school (just outside the front door)

Leah's future class/classmates on the second floor

A Day at the Races

Frites (fries) with a large dollop of mayonnaise, 2 euro bier (beer), and flags of Flanders. The crowd was huge. Jon says we need to wear jackets with "Supporter Jon Baker" on the back, so we are making plans.
Jon found the course challenging, but improved throughout the race. They had a weird call up and he started near the back and unfortunately remained there. Leah did the photos and took some good ones. Axel found a friend at the end, another baby his size, but 15 months old.

Jon before the World Cup at Kalmthout

2 Euro Beer

Flags of Flanders

Leah got a great shot of the leader/winner Zdenek Stybar.

Walking Tour #2

Today Jon and Bill were off to the races. Jon did great coming in 19th. This was a small race , but big names were there such as Nys, Vervecken, and Wellens. Jonathan Page was also there. He came in 14th. Bill had to do all the pit crew work as Proctor was not there. Bill did a great job.

Soon after they took off the rest of us went off for a walk around Brugge. Cyndi had a guide book with planned walks so we did walk #2. I am getting a bit more familiar with the area despite the streets that meet at odd angles, plethora of tiny alleys and street names that change frequently.

Leah had the camera and would have taken lots of pictures, but I had neglected to charge the battery.

We saw canal boats full of tourists, a dog peeing place labeled as such, lots of horse carriages, a wagon pulled by a draft horse, and odd old picture plaques that indicated former uses of buildings. The one above the old 1600 almshouses (now apartments) was of a pelican suckling its young on its blood which was a symbol of charity.

We happened upon the Vismarkt (fishmarket) which is a series of stone stalls built in 1812 and used as a combo fish market and craft market. Cyndi bought mussels and a fancy washcloth with a fancy soap.

We then found the Folk Museum. Very interesting with well done displays of crafts people most around the turn of the century. cobbler, hatter, cooper, baker, tailer, etc. Then headed for home as the baby was getting tired.

Leah and I went out to look for toy stores, discount stores and found almost nothing we were looking for. She found a hot wheels car that she bought with what was left of her allowance after she lost about 1/2 of it.

I went out again to Blokker and found lots of things ( a butter dish, a box for the baby's toys and a pencil box for Leah) and then stopped and picked up bread and milk and headed home.

Including some pictures of the Markt Square and Canal that Leah took with my camera.